Will o' Wisp: ON PERMANENT HIATUS
by Qaralia
Summary: HIATUS! Edward leaves Bella in the forest. Someone turns Bella. What is the one thing Bella wants now? Revenge on the Cullens. How does she get it? Find out in the story! Cowritten with etherealloveliness
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Okay, guys, this is the first chapter of our collaborated fanfiction Will-o'-wisp. In case you were wondering, the definition of a will-o'-wisp is below:**

**The will-o'-the-wisp, sometimes will-o'-wisp or ignis fatuus Latin, from ignis ("fire") + fatuus ("foolish"), plural ignes fatui refers to the ghostly lights sometimes seen at night or TWILIGHT [ironic, eh?] over bogs, swamps, or marshes. It looks like a flickering lamp, and is sometimes said to recede if approached. Much folklore surrounds the phenomenon.**

**This chapter was written by me, Qaralia. The next one will be written by etherealloveliness. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

"Bella, I don't want you anymore," Edward said, his voice cold, watching my face.

"You....don't want me?" I stuttered, my heart breaking.

"No," he said. With that small word, my world shattered into a million fragments, impossible to put together again.

"You're just a distraction to me, you're not good for me Bella. My family and I will not be coming back. It will be as though we never existed."

"If that is really what you want....." I trailed off, unsure and unwilling to continue.

"Just promise me one thing," he requested. I nodded, my eyes glued to his beautiful pale face, taking in his burning gold eyes and messy bronze hair.

"Anything," I whispered.

"Don't do anything reckless. For Charlie's sake. He needs you to take care of him," he said. I nodded again.

"Good bye, Bella," he said, and with that, he was gone, disappeared into the dark forest.

I was not aware of the fast movement of my feet, in a vain attempt to follow his trail. The only thing I could feel was the pain, ripping through me, destroying all rational thought, shutting down my body. I collapsed, and wrapped my arms around my torso, trying to stem the searing pain.

An unmeasurable amount of time later, I heard a twig snap behind me. I felt cool hands grasp my neck and teeth sank into my throat, disappearing a second later. But in that short amount of time, venom was injected into my bloodstream. The searing pain, the endless fire I had felt once before, when James had bitten me in the ballet studio. But there was no loving Edward to save me this time, no Carlisle to give me morphine. I was changing into a vampire. Vaguely I thought that I was finally getting my wish. The pain took over me then.

I screamed as loud as I could and thrashed all around, trying to get away from what was inside of me. I thought I heard a high, cold laugh behind me, but at that point, nothing was clear to me. Nothing but the raging wildfire of the venom coursing through my veins. I fell unconscious, trying to get away from it, but still enduring the fire nonetheless.

The next thing I was aware of was the small areas of me the venom had left. My fingertips and toes were blissfully cool and pain-free. The pain in my heart and chest increased though. I became aware of my senses heightening. I could hear the insects buzzing in the air and rabbits sleeping in their dens. I could smell the blood going through the veins of deer nearby me.

The burning continued to retreat from my limbs and gathered in my torso. My heart stuttered twice, beat once more, then stopped. The transformation was over.

I lay on the forest floor, not wanting to move. I breathed in air I no longer required. Then, slowly, my eyes opened. I saw with total clarity. I could see each individual hair on every leaf of the trees above my head. I could also feel the burn in the back of my throat, an echo of the venom that had changed me. I needed to hunt. The question was should I hunt animals like Ed-......him, or humans. Just then, his voice echoed in my head.

"_It will be as though we never existed." _

If it was as though he never existed, why should I drink animal blood? They said it never satisfied that burning, the ache in my throat. I made up my mind. I got up from my position on the forest floor and brushed dirt and leaves off myself. I was momentarily stunned at how smooth my skin seemed, then shrugged it off. I would have time to look at myself later. Now was time to hunt. I took a moment to try and catch the scent of a human. My nostrils flared as I smelled two human beings to the west of where I was right now. Fools.

I took off in the direction of the hikers, amazed at how fast I could run. I could tell that even if I weren't a newborn, I could run faster than any human eye could follow. The trees seem to move back to make space for me. I stopped a few feet away from the hikers, hiding in the trees around me. I could hear their debate easily.

"....you have no idea where we are, Tim!" a man in hiking gear with light brown hair and blue eyes yelled at the other man.

"Well, we wouldn't be here if _someone_ didn't want to go looking for deer to photograph for that stupid nature magazine!" the other man replied, holding a map and gazing at it in confusion.

The smell was too strong here for me to bear. I launched myself out of the trees and latched onto the neck of the second man, Tim. He screamed and tried to beat me off as his partner ran off in terror. I smiled at him and sank my teeth into his throat.

Bliss. That was the only word to describe the feeling of the hot blood, flowing down my throat and soothing the burn. Too soon, though, he was drained. I shoved him off me, then caught the scent of the other man a few hundred yards away from where I was now. I caught up to him in a second and drained him too. To my displeasure, the burn in my throat wasn't fully gone, though it was much more bearable.

I sighed and sat down in the grass. Well, what to do now? There was no way I wanted to be a nomad. I wanted to have a purpose in this new eternal life. And right now the only thing that came to mind was the Cullens. I winced as I thought the name. Get over it, Bella, I thought to myself. If there was one thing I wanted right now, it was revenge on my so-called _family_ for deserting me and leaving me so broken. What had he said before he left me? Oh yeah, something about Italy and the Volturi as the vampire royalty.

The Volturi sounded like they had a lot of power. They could help me punish the Cullen family for what they did.

I stood up, my mind set. How to get to Italy though? No way I was going on a plane. I guess I would have to run and swim when I got to the ocean. Maybe I could steal a boat from somewhere. With a smile, I started running toward the direction I knew to be east. I was starting my long journey to the country of Italy for revenge on those vampires who had wronged me.

**A/N: Okay guys, there's your first chapter! Please review and send me any suggestion you have for the story! Don't forget to vote on my poll for who you want Bella to end up with. Next chapter will be written by etherealloveliness.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N. Sorry guys! I have been so busy with school that I didn't get a chance to update when etherealloveliness did. Here is Chapter 2, written by her, and chapter 3 will be up soon. Again, sorry. **

Having your heart broken is like a cold dose of reality. Whatever someone may call it, it's a bitter wake-up call, one that jerks you out of the comfortable fantasyland you've emerged yourself in.

And it's not fun.

I'd never had a boyfriend before Edward, so I had nothing to compare the break-up to. Nothing in my life had left me that shattered before, nor had it left _me_ to be the one to pick up the pieces. I hadn't had much time either. A few hours at the most. Time really _does_ fly by sometimes.

It left me wondering-if Edward and the rest of the Cullens had carried on something from their past life, had I carried on something, too? Perhaps it wasn't a talent like blowing up people with my mind. Maybe it was something like Carlisle's or Esme's, a lesser but nonetheless magnificent trait. Though I knew it wasn't compassion. My heart felt like an icy wasteland so I doubted it was a cheery feeling. I pinpointed this nagging sensation to cause the Cullens to hurt as much as I had.

That was the reason I was on my way to the Volturi.

The Volturi was a coven of enormous power located in the city of Volterra, Italy. In a way, they were the rulers of the vampire world. It was unlikely they would help me take out the Cullens. Edward had told me on my first excursion to the Cullen house that Carlisle and the leader had gotten along quite well. If I could simply convince them...

My journey was interesting. I traveled over land and even swam through water. I knew I would have had to eventually, but like running, I had discovered, I hadn't expected it to feel so natural. I could only compare it to flying.

When I walked out of the water on the coast of Italy, dripping water and my pale skin sparkling in the radiant sunlight, people stared. They stared like I was a freak, like they were frightened. I could tell that their instincts were telling them to run, but as I had, they were entranced by a vampire's presence and their feet were glued to the spot.

However, I had hunted yesterday and the ever-present burn in my throat was beginning to flare up again. My thin thread of self-control I had managed to develop was thinning, especially with a crowded coastal town full of pumping blood.

The string snapped and I lunged.

Sweet ecstasy gushed into my throat as soon as I grabbed the person nearest to me, the person whose life would be ending now. A thought crossed my mind that my victim might have been a child (not that I was paying attention to details) because the supply soon dried up.

Another person ran past me. I grabbed him or her and they became victim number two.

After a while, I lost track of how many lives I had ended. The wildfire in my throat had since quieted to a dull burn not unlike the glowing embers in a dying fire.

When I finally looked up and saw the deserted road, I counted seven carcasses. Blood stained the narrow, cobbled streets.

There's a time and place for everything, but, even as I couldn't ignore the cadavers lying on the street, I couldn't help but notice the quaint little shops. Umbrellas covered several tables outside of a café. Bicycles, blue, green, yellow, were parked along the walls of the alleyway. A pizzeria was located farther down.

A visitor's map was abandoned on the ground. On a happier note, I was able to locate Volterra on there.

I went southeast.

The castle was magnificent. That was my only thought as I examined the spindly brick towers. Two people-who I could only assume were vampires-stood outside the gates. Even as one myself, I couldn't help but be a bit frightened at their cloaked appearance. One was practically a giant with even bulkier muscles, and the other was smaller yet still well-toned.

They glanced up at me. The tall one asked with faint amusement, "What are you doing here in Volterra?"

With my chin held high, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Isn't it obvious?" I replied, cockier than I'd intended. "I'm here to see the Volturi. And who are you?"

The shorter one looked taken aback at the way I had talked to him. "Well," he murmured, "we have an interesting one here, Demetri."

"Yes, Felix," the other one agreed, curiosity shining through his ruby eyes.

My impatience was getting the best of me. "Are you going to let me in or not?" This seemed to ease them, as to why, I couldn't guess.

Demetri said, "But of course. And what is your name, child? How old are you?"

"Bella Swan." I brushed a stray lock of hair out of my eyes. "I'm eighteen years old. I was turned three days after my birthday. So I've been a vampire for about a week." I could only help thinking about how this whole mess I was in was because of a certain Edward Cullen.

I had expected him to be surprised that I was younger than the average vampire. Instead, he graced me with a certain nonchalant air. "Very well, we will take you to Aro now. Just...beware of Gianna, since you're young." I had no idea who Gianna was but the situation didn't sound good.

I was led down into the dark underground of the city through a sewer pipe, it appeared. The odor was pungent and prominent with my new sense of smell. All in all, it was a disgusting experience as I daintily stepped over who-knows-what. "Are we almost there?" I practically pleaded while at the same time trying not to sound too desperate to get out of the current dank depths. I wanted to impose on them a strong image of myself.

In the dark I saw a smile twist on Felix's lips. "Yes, we are almost there. Impatient, now, are you?"

I bit back a growl. "I'm usually patient with things, yet this is taking it to a new level," I answered as I edged around a damp stone wall. It seemed like the three of us had been in there forever when I saw light peeking out at the end of the tunnel.

"Thank God," I whispered. We rushed forward and I found myself surprised as the dirt floor gave way to expensive ceramic tiles, leading us into a...lobby?

"Good afternoon, Gianna," Felix greeted the woman at the desk. She had a dark complexion and smiled at us when we entered. Gianna stood up. That's when the scent hit me. I tensed up as my mouth pooled with venom at the simple smell of a human.

I felt strong arms lock me in their iron grip as my eyes surely darkened. Weren't seven people enough to feed me? I was almost disgusted with myself. Almost.

As Demetri urged my along, he said quietly to the secretary, "She's new."

Much to my relief, I found, we were soon walking along another corridor carved with care. Our footsteps echoed down the hall, and my stomach twisted into a knot in apprehension. For the billionth time in my life I wished that vampires couldn't sense your emotions so well. At least Jasper wasn't here to blab it to everyone.

Felix strode ahead of us at pushed open two double doors at the end of the hall, revealing three ancient vampires sitting atop their thrones. He immediately walked up to the throne located in the center of two others, where a man with black hair and milky-red eyes lightly touched him back.

His head slowly turned toward me. He smiled gleefully.

A shiver ran down my back.

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**There you go! Like I said, chapter 3 will be up as soon as I can start writing it. Updates should start coming quicker, seeing as I don't have school right now. Review, review! **

**~Qaralia :)**


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